Scotland’s famous national dish is an ‘imposter’ and has been faking it as
native for centuries, says an award-winning butcher

Scotland’s famous national dish is an ‘imposter’ and has been faking it as native for centuries, says an award-winning butcher who has traced haggis and its recipe back to Viking invaders.

Joe Callaghan, of Callaghans of Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, has been researching the savoury pudding for three years and claims that the evidence is clear - haggis should be made with deer, not sheep.

Haggis with neeps and tatties Photo: Simon Reddy / Alamy

He also claims it was not invented by the Scots, but was instead left behind by marauding Norsemen as they plundered the Scottish coastline during the ninth century.

Mr Callaghan, 50, learned his trade in his dad’s butchers from the age of 10, and insists on calling his dish ‘staggis’, in homage to the wild Highlands red deer.

Varying claims about the origins of haggis have been offered over the years with some even claiming that it dates all the way back to Ancient Greece.

But Mr Callaghan is convinced the authentic recipe is venison, creating a "meatier and richer" flavour in an interpretation of the dish which also contains port, juniper, balsamic vinegar, redcurrants and spices.

“Deer is an indigenous species in Scotland,” he said. “The Vikings brought haggis to Scotland, we are sure of this.

“My recipe is based on the original Viking recipe, made with venison plucks, which I have tweaked a bit so it’s unique to me.

“We also only get our meat from veterinary approved game dealers.

Photo: Jason Baxter / Alamy

“There are lots of ways of making haggis and we have made it from wild boar in the past, but if you want to be traditional, it should really be made with venison plucks, not sheep plucks.

“Scotland’s national dish, as it is widely known, is an imposter. The real national dish is staggis, and always has been.”

Though deer are indigenous to Scotland, there is evidence that sheep such as the Soay breed – named for the tiny Scottish island, near Skye, they were originally discovered on – have been native to Scotland for around 4,000 years.

“Scotland’s national dish, as it is widely known, is an imposter. The real national dish is staggis, and always has been.”

Joe Callaghan

The first written reference to haggis is recorded in the cookbook Liber Cure Cocorum dating from around 1430 in Lancashire, which refers to ‘hagws of a schepe’ and uses sheep’s offal as the core ingredient.

However, Mr Callaghan is not alone in claiming Scotland’s national dish has Scandinavian origins, several noted food writers such as celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright have backed the claim.

Ms Dickson Wright cited etymologist Walter William Skeat - who suggested the word haggis was derived from the Old Norse haggw, meaning to hack into pieces - as part of her research into the subject.

“The stag is a dignified, majestic creature, running free in the hills of Scotland,” said Mr Callaghan. “That’s the philosophy that we like as Scottish people. The image of the stag is far more dignified.

“I think over time the recipe has been distorted because it is much easier to mass produce haggis than it is to mass produce staggis.

“We appreciate that you will never be able to go to Tesco and pick up staggis, because it’s limited in quantity and completely free range.

“But it is the traditional dish.

Fusion food: the haggis pizza

“We have been researching the origins and details of the dish for almost three years now, both on the internet and by speaking to experts.

“The only reason haggis is associated the world over with Scotland is because of Robert Burns.” The Scottish Poet, Robert Burns, popularised the traditional sheep's gut filled with offal, oats and blood in To a Haggis, written in 1786, but until then the dish was common throughout England as well.

The book, published today, shows evidence of a haggis-like dish described by the Ancient Greek writer Aristophanes in about 400BC and a recipe for a pig haggis from the medieval English king, Richard II's reign, in 1390.

"We were finalists in the Golden Staggis Awards," said Mr Callaghan, although the event is officially known as the Golden Haggis Awards.

"We sold out of our staggis shortbread and also sold staggis olives, which people liked.

"We are experimenting all the time and even though it is different to what everyone expects, we know we're staying true to our roots."